These markets pay $50 to $1,000 for fiction. A few also accept other genres, like non-fiction and poetry. The magazines/anthologies are either open now, or they will open soon for submissions. Some calls are closing soon, and some of them are themed. – S. Kalekar
Brigids Gate Press: Dangerous Waters – Deadly Women of the Sea
They want horror or dark fantasy stories, poems, and drabbles “about malevolent mermaids, sinister sirens, scary selkies, spirits, and other deadly and dangerous women of the sea. Stories including the ocean or sea are the focus of the anthology, but we will consider stories involving rivers as well.”
Deadline: 30 June 2022
Length: 500-3,500 words for stories, exactly 100 words for drabbles, up to 350 words for poems
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction; $50 for drabbles and poems
Details here.
Fantasy Magazine
This magazine publishes fantasy and dark fantasy stories. While they’re open for submissions by BIPOC writers through 2022, their next submission windows for all writers will be the first week of July. They also welcome work previously rejected by their sister publications, Lightspeed and Nightmare magazines. Essays are by invitation only, though they do accept essay pitches (see guidelines). They also publish poetry. After July, their next general submission period will be the first week of October.
Reading period: 1-7 July 2022 for general submissions; open through 2022 for BIPOC submissions
Length for fiction: 1,500-7,500 words for short fiction (up to 5,000 words preferred); up to 1,500 words for flash fiction
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction; $10/poem; $75/essay
Details here.
Cosmic Horror Monthly
They publish Cosmic Horror, Lovecraftian, and Weird stories. They will also accept non-fiction now. They will open submissions during the first week of July. Please send submissions only during the reading period.
Reading period: 1-7 July 2022
Length: Up to 5,000 words for fiction
Pay: $0.06/word for fiction
Details here.
Flame Tree Publishing: Two calls
They have opened submissions for two fiction anthologies. They also accept reprints, for both of these.
— Hidden Realms anthology: “Open your mind to contemplate the ways in which places can be hidden – tucked away in remote corners of the world, buried underground, existing on another physical plane or a different dimension in time or on a quantum level, on another planet, accessible only to those with the secret knowledge, or even in plain sight under our noses… They may be inhabited by beings just like you and me, or creatures utterly different to us.”
Deadline: 11 July 2022
Length: Stories in the 2,000-4,000 word range are most likely to succeed; will also read slightly outside this range
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
— Alternate History anthology: “Alternative history is a big topic for movies and real-world events alike, on Netflix, HBO and more. It’s all science fiction, and this new book aims to cover every angle from ancient worlds to distant futures, world wars, steampunk and more. What if the course of history had been changed by a different decision, a different victor, a different invention? … (The stories will explore) the variety and delight of alternative history to reimagine the world around us – some examples just to give you an idea: What if the Ancient Egyptians had conquered Rome? What if World War II had been won by the loser, not the victors? What if women had ruled the world for 4,000 years not men?”
Deadline: 11 July 2022
Length: Stories in the 2,000-4,000 word range are most likely to succeed; will also read slightly outside this range
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
Diabolical Plots: Two calls
Their initial reading period is for unthemed/general speculative fiction submissions (science fiction, fantasy, and horror) for Diabolical Plots magazine. During the second half of July, they’ll read submissions for Diabolical Thoughts – on the Telepathy theme. They have extensive guidelines.
Reading periods: 1-14 July for general submissions; 24-31 July 2022 for Diabolical Thoughts theme
Length: Up to 3,500 words
Pay: $0.10/word
Details here.
Virginia Quarterly Review
This prestigious literary magazine publishes literary fiction, nonfiction, including reviews, and poetry. They are not interested in genre fiction. For nonfiction, they want literary, art, and cultural criticism, reportage, historical and political analysis, and travel essays. They publish few author interviews or memoirs. “In general, we are looking for nonfiction that looks out on the world, rather than within the self.”
Reading period: 1-31 July 2022
Length: 2,500-8,000 words for fiction; 3,000-7,000 words for nonfiction
Pay: $1,000 and up for fiction; about $0.25/word for non-fiction (higher for investigative reporting – see guidelines); $200/poem
Details here.
New Myths
They publish speculative fiction. “We like to balance each quarterly issue between science fiction and fantasy, dark and light, serious and humorous, hard and soft science fiction, and longer and shorter works.” They also publish nonfiction, poems, reviews, and artwork with speculative fiction themes.
Deadline: 31 July 2022
Length: Up to 10,000 words for fiction and non-fiction; up to 5 poems of any length
Pay: 1.5c/word for prose and poetry; $30 for reviews; $60 for art
Details here.
Metaphorosis Books: Museum Piece Anthology
This is a speculative fiction anthology. “Bring your stories of intriguing museums old and new… Anything goes, so long as it’s an SFF story about an intriguing museum.
The story must be about (and likely take place in) a museum with an interesting concept, which should be essential to the plot, not just background.” They also accept reprints.
Deadline: 31 July 2022
Length: 1,000-6,000 words
Pay: $0.01/word
Details here.
Night Coffee Lit
They publish poetry, art, and ephemera: “submit a reasonable volume of your weirdsiest weirds, including but not limited to: works in translation, reviews of lost and forgotten esoterica, enlightened shitposts, short fictions both magical and real.”
Deadline: Open now
Length: 3-5 poems; unspecified for prose
Pay: $50
Details here.
HOAX
This magazine publishes creative writing and art and all work must incorporate text in some way. Online submissions are meant to be displayed on the site, and they also accept work for the print version. They ask contributors to read their background and principles before submitting. They want creative work only, no reviews or articles. Currently, they publish one piece weekly online, and biannually in print.
Deadline: Ongoing
Length: Unspecified
Pay: £50
Details here.
Here are some other calls, which are closing very soon:
— Dark Matter Ink: Monstrous Futures, a science fiction and horror anthology, looking for “dark sci-fi with an emphasis on exploring our connection with technology and one another through speculative concepts and backdrops. I want every piece to look at some aspect of our lives through a “what if” lens and only lean on science as much as strictly necessary to show those human experiences.” Pay is $0.08/word for stories of 2,000-4,000 words, and the deadline is 30 June 2022; details here and here.
— Kernel, the flagship print magazine of Reboot, a publication and community reimagining techno-optimism for a better collective future; non-fiction closed but open now for fiction, poetry, and art, pay is $50-300, deadline 30 June 2022, details here (Twitter thread), and here (creative work guidelines and submission form).
— Cast of Wonders, publishing young adult speculative fiction for their online magazine and podcast, aimed at the 12-17 age range. They also accept translations and reprints, and are open now for stories by young authors only – writers aged 19 and younger at the end of June (see schedule). Pay is $0.08/word for stories up to 6,000 words, and the deadline is 30 June 2022. Details here (general guidelines), here (Moksha/ submission portal) and here (schedule).
— Tasavvur, a new speculative fiction magazine for South Asian and BIPOC writers; reading for their third issue. They accept fiction submissions, pitches for nonfiction, and translations. Pay is 2.5c/word for fiction up to 5,000 words, $100 for commissioned nonfiction, and the deadline is 1 July 2022. Details here, here (Tweets) and here (submission guidelines).
— The Sacrament, an anthology of religious horror fiction – writers can send stories of invented religions, too. Pay is $0.01/word for stories of 6,000-8,000 words, and the deadline is 1 July 2022; details here.
— Folk Horror anthology. Pay is CAD0.01/word up to CAD70 for stories of 2,000-7,000 words, and the deadline is 1 July 2022. Details here – and they’ve also listed other calls which will open later in the year on the guidelines page, including It Calls From Below, opening August, and Cosmic Horror, opening September.
— Solarpunk at Work, a call from Solarpunk Magazine; “exploring what labor, economics, and our relationship to work looks like in solarpunk futures.” Pay is $0.08/word for stories of 500-7,500 words, and the deadline is 4 July 2022. They also accept poetry, non-fiction, and art. Details here.
— Submissions are also open for Incubate, a feminist horror anthology of rage. Pay is $10 and a copy of the anthology, for stories of 2,500-8,500 words. Submissions will close when filled. Details here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
